Comparison of survivors and nonsurvivors in 27 confirmed injectional anthrax cases from the 2009 outbreak in Scotland

From December 2009 to December 2010, 47 patients in Scotland presented with confirmed anthrax infection manifested by soft tissue disease related to heroin injection. These cases represent the first known outbreak of a recently recognized form of anthrax, termed injectional anthrax, which appears to be associated with a high mortality rate (28% in confirmed cases from the UK outbreak). While epidemiologic data from this outbreak have been published, no report has systematically described findings in patients at presentation or compared these findings in nonsurvivors and survivors.